Clean and Safe Water is a Privilege

Thursday, July 23, 2015

*Image derived from Charity:Water website

Many do not know how blessed they are to be able to have clean and safe drinking water. For people in third world countries it is difficult to get their hands on. The massive deficit for access to clean and safe water in third world countries leads to horrendous consequences.

One consequence to this deficit is death. Another consequence is that it leads to children missing school due to water-related illnesses.

No one can survive without water. Water is necessary to us, water is a precious treasure. According to the World Health Organization, one in six people in the world do not have access to clean water. Imagine that your mother or father or child or just anyone that you hold so dear to your heart is that one person that does not have access to clean and safe water. Imagine the struggles that person so dear to you has to go through to get water. However, the water they get a hold of is filthy, contaminated and not at all sanitized, but they do not know of the poor water they have in their hands. They drink the water and soon afterwards their health starts to deteriorate. The person so dear to you has ultimately died.

I am an individual that has been greatly moved and appalled of this situation. The one part of this situation that really stuck a chord with me is the fact that the children are the ones that are predominantly affected by this calamity. I love children, my career choice is actually to be a teacher for elementary students. When I read on the UNICEF website that every single day, across the globe, 1,400 children die from diseases directly linked to unsafe water, I knew I had to do something. I am now a UNICEF Tap Project volunteer. I plan to get the word out and spread the message.

So what will motivate you enough to take some action? Lack of clean water is responsible for more deaths in the world than war.

When water is unsafe and not sanitized, it can kill. Unsafe water is killing more people than war. According to the organization Charity:Water, "Diseases
from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people every year than
all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially
vulnerable, as their bodies aren't strong enough to fight diarrhea, dysentery
and other illnesses." More than 3.4 million people die each year from a water related disease. That is almost the entire city of Los Angeles. Most of these deaths come from developing countries, according to water.org.

400 million children do not have access to clean and safe water, making them the most frail in the situation. Every 21 seconds a child dies from a water related illness.

A lack of the basic necessity of clean water is not only inconvenient, it’s lethal. As Americans, we take many things for granted, including that every house has a faucet with clean and safe water, while many others in the world suffer to have that.

One way you can help is by donating money, even as little as $5 can provide a child with clean safe water for 200 days. Also, just by getting the word out helps in a small way.